If you only ever try one thing I make, try this.

I'm serious.  This has to be the dish.  You must make it.




I said the other day, sometimes things you don't like will taste good in a dish.  This is a perfect example.  I hate beer, but I tried an Irish stout beef stew at a local Irish festival and it was really good.  The whole family liked it, a lot.

 We have friends that visited last summer.  My husband bought a six-pack of beer for them.  They drank two.  They came back this summer, and they drank two.  We had two left.  Yep, over a year old.  Since I had lots of left-over pot roast, I decided to make a beer & beef pot pie.  I could have made this into a stew and served it over noodles, mashed potatoes, or rice.  I could have topped it with Bisquick biscuits or with pie crust.  I had some puff pastry in the freezer from when I made a batch a couple of months ago.  Yes, I did make puff pastry.  I wanted to see if I could and, thanks again to Jacques Pepin, I could and I did.  If you want to try it, watch this video.  He makes it really easy.  http://blogs.kqed.org/essentialpepin/2011/09/10/episode-115-all-puffed-up/#

This is what it looked like after defrosting in the refrigerator overnight.

 

I rolled it out until it was a little bigger than my pan and I covered it with plastic until I was ready to put the pot pie in the oven.

 

 

Now onto my pot pie...

 

I used the left-over pot roast, cut into cubes.  If I didn't have that, I would have used stew beef.  If you have raw 1 to 1 1/2 lbs. of beef you put 1 cup of flour into a Ziploc baggie and season it with salt & pepper.  Add the beef chunks and shake them to coat.  Make sure you close the bag.  Believe me, if you don't it takes a lot longer to cook dinner.  Sweeping up flour can take quite a while.  Then take the beef out, shake off the extra flour back into the bag, and cook the beef until brown in a large pan heated with 2 tablespoons of oil.  When the beef is brown, add the veggies and stock and don't worry about the thickening step I show here.  Yours will thicken because of the flour on the beef.

 

 

Ingredients and directions when using left-over meat.

 





Cubed, left-over beef or lamb from a roast.  I had about 3 cups of meat. 
1 onion, cubed
3 ribs of celery, diced
1/2 bag of baby carrots, or 2 carrots, diced
1 package baby mushrooms, I used cremini (baby portabellas)
2 large cloves of garlic, minced (about 2 spoons of crushed from a jar)
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 can of beef broth (Aldi's had it for $.49)
1 bottle of beer
1 teaspoon thyme
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup of flour
salt & pepper to taste

I didn't add potatoes, but that would have been tasty as well.  My grandfather would have liked turnips.  Whatever your family prefers is fine.

Add the veggies, beer and beef broth to a large pan and bring it to a boil.

I let it boil for several minutes to boil off the alcohol.  Then I added the Worcestershire sauce, tomato paste, thyme and salt & pepper.  Cover the pan and let it simmer for about 15 minutes.  This allows the veggies to cook.  Preheat your oven to 400 degrees, Fahrenheit. 

While the veggies simmer, mix the flour into about 1/2 cup of water.  I have a handy shaker I bought from Tupperware, but you can just put both into a drinking glass and cover the top with foil.  Hold the foil firmly and shake vigorously, until blended. 

 Then pour the mixture slowly into the pot, while stirring.  If you are worried about lumps, you can pour it through a strainer.  My daughter helped with this picture.  I'm not that talented.

 

Allow the mixture to cook for a couple of minutes, stirring the whole time.  Test the taste and adjust the seasoning.  Pour the whole thing into a baking pan and cover it with the puff pastry.  You can always blop drop biscuits on there, or even the refrigerator ones from a can.  If you have a round pan, try pie crust.    If using puff pastry, which you can buy frozen, brush it with an egg wash.  Just mix a beaten egg with a little water and use a pastry brush or your fingertips to gently apply.  Cut a couple of vents in the top for steam to escape.

Bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until golden brown.  I usually put a cookie sheet under pot pies, because they tend to cook over.  Serve and enjoy!!

 

 

 

Then, because my daughter asked so nicely, I made cream puffs.  They are very easy, and I promise to do them again soon.  I'll show you how easy they are.  I just filled them with chocolate pudding tonight.

 

 

 



You've got a little drool there.  No, over a bit.  Yep, that's it.